VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia is not experiencing a crisis currently, but it must remain vigilant amid the ongoing global uncertainty, with many countries facing food and energy crises and high inflation, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia has said.

At a press conference on investment realization in the second quarter of 2022, he said that Indonesia’s current economic growth is quite good, thus, although the inflation rate has increased, the government has managed to maintain it well.

In addition, Indonesia’s assets have continued to increase, while the country’s debt ratio is still at a reasonable level, hence economic growth, as well as people’s consumption and purchasing power, can be maintained, he added.

However, the global crisis has still affected Indonesia since the country needs to import some food and energy commodities to meet domestic demand.

Imported food commodities can be substituted by abundant local food products, he pointed out. However, the energy issue is still quite complicated to resolve, he noted.

Hence, Indonesia must prepare for unfavorable conditions if the crisis results in an increase in subsidies for the energy sector, he said.

"Our problem is (meeting the demand for) fuel. It is the reason that we have to quickly shift from (using) fossil fuels to new and renewable energy,” the minister added.

For instance, the government is encouraging the utilization of electric motors and electric stoves to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), he noted.

Furthermore, he highlighted President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi’s) efforts to resolve the global food and energy crises by directly visiting and communicating with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.

He said that the attempt had a huge impact on the food and energy sectors, which had stalled due to the conflict between the two countries.

"As soon as the President returned (from the visit), there were a number of policies in the food and logistic sectors which began to work," Lahadalia said.

The visit also showed that Indonesia cannot be restrained by any country, politically or economically, he added.

He also lauded the President and First Lady Iriana Widodo’s visit to Ukraine and Russia in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and a raging conflict between the two countries.

“What is the message (of the visit)? It is to build the world’s trust,” he remarked. (Antaranews)